


Our Choices: Book 2

by rosariotae



Series: Our Choices [2]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Alternate Hogwarts House Sorting, Blood and Violence, Book 2: Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, Desi Harry Potter, Desi Potter Family (Harry Potter), F/F, F/M, Good Draco Malfoy, Good Slytherins, Gryffindor vs. Slytherin Rivalry, Harry Potter is a Little Shit, Hogwarts Chamber of Secrets, Hogwarts Era, Indian Harry Potter, James Lives, James Potter & Lily Evans Potter Live, Lily Evans Potter Lives, Lucius Malfoy Being an Asshole, M/M, Parselmouth Harry Potter, Prankster Harry Potter, Puberty, Sassy Harry Potter, Slow Burn, Slytherin Harry Potter, Teenage Drama, Teenage Rebellion, Tom Riddle's Diary
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-11-29
Updated: 2020-12-16
Packaged: 2021-03-09 23:07:32
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 5
Words: 15,389
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27784219
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/rosariotae/pseuds/rosariotae
Summary: Harry has just finished his 1st year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft & Wizardry after being sorted into Slytherin. He expects to have the best summer of his life, but he loses hope when his friends don't seem to be responding to his letters.When he returns to Hogwarts he comes to learn that a new evil now walks the halls of the school. The Chamber of Secrets is opened and the heir of Slytherin is in Hogwarts.
Relationships: Draco Malfoy & Harry Potter, James Potter/Lily Evans Potter, Sirius Black/Remus Lupin
Series: Our Choices [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2010646
Comments: 2
Kudos: 50





	1. Harry Potter and the Eyes in the Tree

**Author's Note:**

> First chapter of the second book!! I'm so excited for this one. My uploaded schedule will be Monday, Wednesday, and Friday.

This summer was meant to be fantastic. I should’ve been hanging out with Draco and playing Quidditch with him, sending letters to all of my friends in Slytherin. No letters came and I never heard from Draco despite floo calling him and writing a letter. I would’ve sent another letter, but I felt as though I would come off as needy or clingy.

So I waited and waited. As more time passed I began to wonder, were we even friends after all or did they only put up with me because Snape said Slytherins needed to be united?

I let out a sigh and threw a rock at one of mother’s flowers in the garden. The head of it came off and the stem was bent, completely ruined. The red petals stayed on the ground to eventually be lifted by the passing wind.

“Harry, the Weasleys are coming over soon. Go clean your room and wash up,” my mum said from the kitchen room. I instantly felt bad about ruining one of her flowers, but there was nothing I could do now.

I stared at one of the hedges, noticing a pair of large green eyes staring back at me. I blinked again and realized it was a hedge staring at me. I jumped when my mum called my name again. When I looked back the pair of eyes were gone.

I switched my focus to cleaning my room and taking a shower before the Weasleys arrived.

They’d been coming over a lot more and we’ve been visiting them more frequently. As Bill and Charlie were too busy with work, I found myself spending more time with the twins. The three of us had a bit of a mischievous streak so we fit perfectly.

I told the twins that it was Draco and I that gave the tickling potion to the Gryffindors and gave the Hufflepuffs antlers. Their respect for me grew and we made a promise that we would join together while at Hogwarts to pull a prank.

The Weasleys were already here when I got out of my shower and Ginny stared at me for far too long. I was wondering when she would get over her crush on me, because it was beginning to make me slightly uncomfortable.

Ron and I barely talked, mainly because I was still holding a grudge against him for getting us caught on the night at the Astronomy tower.

“Heya, Harry,” who I assumed to be Fred said as he threw his arm over my shoulders. He had gotten even taller over the summer along with his twin, but I couldn’t help but notice that Fred seemed to be slightly more tanned.

George approached me, instantly putting his arm around me as well and they both led me up my stairs. We all got situated in my bedroom with Fred sitting on the floor as George and I sat on my bed.

“You know how we’ve been wanting to do something together? Well we’re gonna have a surprise for you on your birthday next week. Make sure to be awake at midnight,” Fred told me. He was in the process of pulling out multiple contraptions from his bag that he and George had invented.

“You think we can get Sirius to eat this?” George asked, holding up what seemed to be a toffee in a small clear package.

“What does it do?” I asked instantly. A grin had appeared on my face and I looked at it closely.

“Makes their tongue grow longer. We’ve called it the Ton-Tongue Toffee,” Fred said with a grin and I rushed out of my room with them to go bug Sirius and Remus.

I ended up squeezed between Fred and George on the couch opposite of Sirius and Remus. Sirius had his arm around Remus’ shoulder as the werewolf spoke to Mrs. Weasley about how he liked his meat cooked. The way Sirius was looking at Remus made me pause, why was he looking at him like that?

Fred nudged me a bit and I realized I had to get back to the task and stop over analyzing my Uncles. I plopped down onto the leather couch next to Sirius and he put his arm around my shoulder. Why was everyone doing that lately?

I had a few of the toffees in my pocket so I pulled out two as if I was also going to have one. “Want one?” I asked him nonchalantly, staring at the muggle television that was playing a rerun of the three Star Wars movies.

Sirius took one from my hand and ate it as I pretended to open mine and eat it as well. The twins and I exchanged mischievous looks and I got up to head into the kitchen and bug my dad who was cooking.

“Hey, Dad. I got a question,” I said as I hoisted myself onto the counter that he wasn’t using.

“And I might have an answer,” he replied and looked up from the cutting board. Mum made him cook the muggle way because she claimed the food didn’t taste as good when you made it when magic.

“Why does Sirius look at Remus like that?” I asked him as I snatched an apple off the cutting board and took a bite from it.

“Like what?” Dad asked me, one of his eyebrows raised.

“Like that,” I said and pointed to the two on the couch. Sirius’ tongue obviously hadn’t gotten long enough yet if he could still watch Remus.

“They love each other,” my dad stated and went back to cutting.

“I know that,” I said and rolled my eyes. “But why doesn’t he look at you like that then?” I asked him as I felt more clueless than ever.

“I sure hope he doesn’t look at me like that,” my dad said with a smile on his face. It fell when he saw my face. “Surely you don’t think Sirius and Remus are friends?” He asked me, looking like he was going to burst out laughing any second now.

“Then why do they live with each other and always hang out with each other if they aren’t friends?” I asked him. I must’ve looked confused enough to prevent him from laughing.

“Sirius and Remus are more than friends. They’re together like your mother and I are,” he said and my eyes went wide. That was when he decided it was okay to laugh. He nearly cut his hand with the knife he was holding, but he wasn’t focused on that.

“They’re married?” I asked him and his face fell as his laughter faded away.

“They aren’t allowed to get married,” he told me with a grim expression. That confused me even more and I went back to how I felt two minutes ago. “Two men or two women can’t legally get married. Although they should be allowed,” he explained to me.

“But why? That’s just stupid,” I said as my mother entered the kitchen to grab the kettle of tea off the stove. I also didn’t understand why she insisted on making tea the muggle way, the kettle screeching was my least favorite sound.

“I can agree with you that it’s stupid. The reason why they can’t is also hard to answer, but to put it in simple words: some people that hold a lot of power believe that it’s wrong and against nature and due to muggle influence on our culture. Which is very ironic because magic is considered to be against nature. Turning a rat into a teacup for example,” my father explained to me as he completely ignored the cutting board in front of him.

“It’s illegal in the muggle world too?” I asked and he nodded. A scowl appeared on my face just as Sirius began yelling. His tongue was nearly at his chin already and the twins were cackling as they entered the kitchen to grab me.

“We’ll be playing Quidditch outside!” George yelled as they dragged me out into the large backyard. We had a broom shed which held a few spare brooms for when people came over along with all of the Quidditch balls.

I grabbed my Nimbus 2000 and the twins each grabbed the Cleansweep 11, which was a good broom but not as good as mine. Ron walked out into the backyard and there was faint yelling from the house as they adults still attempted to fix Sirius.

“Can I play with you guys?” He asked hesitantly and I nodded instantly. The more people we had to play the more fun it would be. “Can Ginny play too? She’s good on a broom despite her age,” he assured us.

“No bludgers, especially if you’re playing,” Fred said as he pointed to Ginny. It was obvious he cared for her, but she still looked a bit upset when she realized she was being babied. “Well we have an uneven number so Ginny, George, and Ron can play on a team and I’ll be with Harry. Go decide your positions,” Fred said and grabbed me.

“I’m obviously the seeker, so you’ll be the chaser?” I asked Fred. He nodded and we walked back to the middle of the backyard so we could all share our positions. “We aren’t having keepers so you two will just be chasers,” I said as Ron and George said that Ginny would be the seeker.

We all began our match after deciding where the goals would count and the three others began tossing the Quaffle around as I flew looking for the snitch. Surprisingly Fred managed to make the first goal and I cheered him on.

“Focus on the snitch, Slytherin,” Fred called at me and I grinned at him.

All of the Weasleys seemed relatively okay with me in Slytherin, even Ron had begun warming up to the idea of the house even if we didn’t really talk much. Mrs. Weasley didn’t take it well when she heard any insults towards my house, especially if I was around.

Ginny was avoiding me as if I was the plague and I couldn’t help but wish she would get over her crush on me. The only reason she liked me was because I was apparently the ‘saviour’ of the wizarding world.

She was a bit closer to the house as she searched and I approached the trees. I scanned them for any hint of gold, but instead I was met with a pair of enormous green eyes that made me yell and jump back.

That jump made me slip off of my broom and I fell to the ground with a girlish scream that I was sure the Twins would make fun of me for.

“Shit,” I heard one of the twins cuss and it was the first time I heard them openly swear around me. Ginny sprinted back towards the house screaming ‘Harry’s hurt!’ while I groaned in pain on the grass.

My leg hurt beyond belief. “You’re okay, Potter,” George said as he sat next to me on the grass. Ron was staring at me worriedly and Fred had grabbed my broom before it crashed. I couldn’t even mutter out a thank you, too focused on the pain in my left leg.

“You’re an idiot,” was all Fred said to me as he stared at me from above. I gave him a sheepish grin, but it fell as another wave of pain washed over me and I squirmed. “Stop moving. You broke your leg so the more you move the more pain you’re gonna be in,” he told me.

I could distinctly hear the adults rushing out of the house and my mum was sprinting out of the house full speed with her satchel of potions with her and a wand. “You didn’t hit your head did you?” Was the first question she asked. She turned to the twins for an answer.

“He didn’t seem to. All of his pain is in his leg there, but I’m sure he’ll have a few nasty bruises,” Fred told her and she grabbed her wand. My dad was looking over her shoulder, worried. Sirius also seemed to be fixed up as his tongue was safely back in his mouth.

“This is going to hurt,” my mum said. “Brackium Emendo- there, good as new,” she said and I swore loudly. She seemed to give me leeway and not punish me for my language as the bone in my leg snapped back into place.

Fred and my dad helped me up off the ground and I smiled at everyone to let them know I was okay. “Good as new,” I said and began walking myself back to the house. My mum made me put on some bruise ointment with the help of Fred, who was teasing me the entire time as he applied it to my back.

“How did you fall, anyways?” He asked me as he closed the jar of bruise ointment.

“I thought I saw something in the trees and it scared me. Looked like eyes,” I told him and stood up to put my shirt back on. “It was probably an owl,” I said and he nodded, although he didn’t seem to really believe it.

Everyone was seated at the dining table, which had been transfigured into a much longer version of our usual table and there was a truck-load of food all over the table.

“Which of you kids did it?” Sirius asked as we began digging into the food laid out. I had chicken, corn, potatoes and a bread roll on my plate.

“You really think they’ll fess up? That’s everything we stand against,” my father said and Sirius verbally agreed, deciding to drop it. He did stare at the twins and I bit longer, making me grin in response.

“You’re starting Hogwarts this year, Ginny?” My mum asked as she attempted to make small talk with the shy red-head.

The mention of Hogwarts seemed to excite her and she nodded with a smile gracing her face. “I can’t wait! I get to have my own wand,” she gushed to my mum who smiled. I knew my mum wanted a daughter, but I was fairly certain she was too scared after what happened with me when I was a baby.

“How’s Bill and Charlie?” I asked Mr. and Mrs Weasley. I couldn’t help but miss their absence whenever the Weasley family came over.

“Bill is still in Egypt working for Gringotts. Apparently he’s working on a pretty big project right now, but he took a vow so he can’t say much on what it’s about. He did say the curse they were working on breaking was pretty hard,” Mrs. Weasley told me. A fond smile appeared on her face as she spoke of her eldest son.

“Charlie is in Romania working on his dragons still. Apparently a pair of the Chinese Fireballs just mated and the mother recently laid her eggs,” Mr. Weasley went on to say.

Both of their jobs sounded fun and cool, but it was a shame that they were both out of the country as they often missed gatherings and birthdays. I vowed to never leave the country, especially after seeing the hint of sadness on Mr. and Mrs. Weasley’s faces as they spoke of their two sons.

“Who wants dessert?” Sirius yelled as soon as everyone was done eating. All of the kids settled on the couch and floor in the living room as the adults cracked open a bottle of Firewhiskey. Percy was as quiet as usual, sitting in the corner reading a book.

There was loud laughter from the kitchen and I suspected it was Remus, which was a bit weird as he was normally so quiet and calm. He and Sirius were complete opposites in terms of personality, but they fit so well that I couldn’t help but beat myself up for not noticing they were a bit more than friends.

I could vaguely remember seeing Sirius kiss Remus on the cheek one Christmas eve, but I just brushed it off as them being a bit drunk.

I had so many questions, but instead I stared at the telly as I felt boredom settle in.

I began thinking again, about how none of my friends sent me letters (mainly Draco as he’d been the one that brought it up). I had considered that maybe the letters weren’t reaching me, but it wouldn’t explain the floo as well.

I felt my miserable mood reappear and I left the living room to go sulk in my room with Hedwig, as Felix was who knows where. Hedwig instantly landed on my shoulder and I smiled at her. “I know you’re giving my letters, I can always rely on you. You’re such a good girl,” I told her as I stroked her cheek. She hooted softly at the attention and I felt tears sting at my eyes.

“I miss my friends,” I whispered to her and she seemed to sense how down I was feeling, because she rubbed her break against my face and then gently nibbled on my ear, making me giggle. “You’re one of my best friends too,” I told her as I smiled at her fondly.

“Why don’t you sleep here while I rest a bit?” I asked her and placed her on top of my headboard. She shifted a bit before quickly getting comfortable on the spot I placed her. I laid down on my bed fully dressed and allowed myself to sleep. It almost felt as though she were protecting me

I woke up a bit later to my mum’s voice calling me downstairs. “Come down to say goodbye to the Weasleys!” She yelled up the stairs and her voice faded.

Hedwig had her head tucked under her wing and was still sleeping despite my mum’s voice calling me. I headed downstairs to see they were all ready to leave and everyone was hugging goodbye.

When I hugged Ginny goodbye, she turned scarlet and rushed to hide behind her mum. I chose to ignore it and instead went to hug both of the twins. “Bye, Potter,” the both said unison before exiting the front door.

“You look exhausted,” Sirius said with a laugh from the couch. “Your dad told me something interesting earlier,” he said with a grin. Remus was sitting next to me and grinned at me as I blushed.

“I didn’t know,” I said defensively. Sirius and Remus both laughed in response and I rushed back up to my room. This time I got dressed into a pair of pajamas for bed and brushed my teeth. Hedwig only shifted slightly when I slipped into bed.


	2. Harry Potter and the Visit to Muggle London

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> harry is acting like an angsty teen 💔

The night before my birthday I didn’t change out of my clothes. I also didn’t go to sleep, as I was waiting for whatever surprise the Weasley twins had for me at midnight when my birthday began. I waited patiently for them, occupying myself with the muggled book, ‘ _The Outsiders’_ which the movie of the same name was based on.

At five minutes past midnight I heard a quiet rumbling sound and someone tapping on my window. I threw my book aside and rushed to my window. I had to blink twice to comprehend what I was seeing.

The twins were inside a car that was parked in the middle of the air. _The middle of the air_.

“Bloody hell,” was the first thing out of my mouth. “Where’d you guys get that?” I asked them as soon as I opened my window.

“It’s our dad’s, now hop in quickly so we can take you for a ride,” Fred said and I did as told. I slipped into the back seat with a grin on my face. “We managed to make some money selling our inventions. Where do you want to go?” Fred asked me as we began flying away.

“A muggle restaurant,” I blurted out instantly and they nodded. They went back onto the ground and began driving the muggle way once we reached London. Our eyes searched for a restaurant that was open, but it couldn’t be one that would wonder why a bunch of teenagers were out.

We settled on a casual looking 24 hour diner that was settled on the corner of the street. “Brought some muggle money just in case. Do you know how to use it?” George asked me as he handed me the paper money.

“I know which pieces are which,” I told them and that seemed enough for them as they led me inside the diner. There were only three other people in there and they were sat at the bar up front. They had a tray of chips next to them as they watched the muggle telly.

We took a seat in a booth in a corner as we didn’t want to be too noticeable. A muggle waitress walked up to us with a couple of menus in her hand. “I’ll be serving you tonight. Do you know what you want to drink?” She asked us and I began speaking for them.

“We’ll all have a can of orange fanta,” I told the lady and she nodded. She didn’t seem to be put off by the fact that I was ordering for two older guys, even if the age gap was barely 2 years.

“Okay, I’ll be back for your order with your drinks,” she said and walked off towards the kitchen.

Fred settled on beef stew which came with a few pieces of bread and a side of fruit of his choosing. George and I both decided to get fish and chips, which we decided we’d share a bit of with Fred. When the lady returned with the drinks I told her the order and she took the receipt to the cook.

“How long do you have to wait?” Fred asked me, confused as it had already been five minutes. “There aren’t many people here,” he went on to add.

“Muggles can’t use magic so they have to make it with fire in a pan. That can take a little bit as they don’t want it to be over or undercooked,” I explained to Fred who nodded, but he still didn’t seem to fully understand.

“What’re you doing for your birthday?” George asked me as soon as our food arrived at the table. I shrugged, surprisingly this year I didn’t feel as excited about it as I had thought. It mostly had something to do with the fact my friends were still ignoring me. It was so bad I nearly didn’t want to go back to Hogwarts.

“Come on, why do you look so down? This is your last year before you’re a teenager. The wonders of puberty and more accidental magic begin,” Fred said as he opened his arms in an attempt to exaggerate his words.

“I haven’t received a single letter from any of my friends since summer began,” I confessed to them and they both frowned. “Draco even specifically asked me to floo call him and send him multiple letters,” I ranted on before pausing to take a bite of my food.

“That’s gotta suck. We mainly only talk to Lee Jordan, y’know?” George said and I nodded as I thought back to the time when the three of them had been messing around with a huge spider to scare Ron.

We finished up our food and thankfully with little struggle after paying, we left the diner. We got back into the car and just began driving around. It was still busy and people were walking everywhere, but it could’ve been worse.

“Your mum is going to explode when she realizes you took the car, isn’t she?” I asked them and they nodded, but they seemed happy despite the punishment they’d be receiving in a few hours.

“We won’t rat you out, though. Let’s drop you off now at your window so you can sleep. You’re dozing off back there,” Fred said and to my surprise made the car invisible. Only until we were high in the sky did he turn it off and I felt a lot safer.

I could see my house getting bigger and bigger and before I knew it we were parked in front of the window. Fred helped me back to the window and I landed with a soft thud inside. My room was how I left it and no one seemed to be any wiser I’d left.

“Bye. Thanks for the food,” I whispered to them and they smiled back at me.

“Happy birthday, Harry,” was all they said in response before driving away. I waited a few moments and watched from my window until they finally disappeared, not even a tiny speck in the sky.

I got dressed into a pair of pajamas and fell asleep as soon as my head hit the pillow. I could try not to be too miserable tomorrow on my birthday, even if my friends didn’t send me any gifts.

I woke up the next morning at a half hour past ten in the morning. I felt I had slept decently well so I headed downstairs, although in the back of my mind I was worrying about how Fred and George were doing after getting home.

“Happy birthday, baby,” my mum said as soon as she saw me and kissed me on top of my head. I squirmed away from her touch and rushed to the table where my dad was already serving the food.

“Happy birthday, kiddo,” he said as he took his seat across from me. We were eating a classic English breakfast, which happened to be one of my favorites. They only ever made it on my birthday and Christmas, but that made it taste even better.

“What time will Remus and Sirius be coming over?” I asked as I finished up the last few bites of my meal.

“Around noon like usual. We’ll wait until then to give you your gifts,” my dad said and grabbed my plate from the table. “Why’d you want to stay home this year? It’s unlike you to ask for only cake and not go out to do something,” my dad asked from the kitchen.

“Just didn’t feel like it,” I told him as I stared at an owl approaching our window. It ended up being a letter for my mum and I felt stupid for even hoping it was one of my friends wishing me a happy birthday.

Maybe I just didn’t deserve anything from them. I sounded like a spoiled brat complaining over my friends not sending a letter or gift to me. I was in a foul mood again and my mother seemed to realize instantly, although she didn’t know why.

“Want to help make a potion for me? I just got another order for my eyesight potion,” she said and waved me over to where she was standing over a cauldron. I nodded and stood up to stand beside her to begin helping.

It was a complicated process and everything had to be perfect so she watched me closely as I chopped up ingredients and gently added them in. “Good,” she murmured as I waved my wand over the potion to complete it.

“That won’t count as underage magic, will it?” I asked her seconds after I did it.

“It won’t count, darling. Plus it’s hard for the Ministry to actually tell whether or not you cast it as you live in a magical house. I shouldn’t be telling you this, but you can cast magic in our home or in other wizarding homes without being caught,” she told me and I felt my spirits brighten a bit.

“Thanks for letting me help,” I thanked her as she bottled up the potion and sent it off with Bami, our family owl.

After I showered, did my hair with the Sleekeazy potion along with the book Blaise got me, and got dressed, I headed downstairs feeling slightly better. Remus and Sirius were already sitting on the couch with a few more presents added to my pile of gifts on the floor near the telly.

“Birthday boy!” Sirius yelled and hugged me tightly. I gave both Sirius and Remus a hug and gave them a smile. “Surprised you didn’t want to do more for your birthday,” Sirius said nonchalantly and I tried to not think too much about it.

“When can we open my presents?” I asked them, sitting down onto the couch next to my dad and mum.

“In a little bit,” my dad said and ruffled my hair. “Why don’t we have some cake first?” He suggested and I nodded excitedly while my mum said “Before lunch?”. He ignored her and shut all of the curtains with his wand and then turned off the lights. He lit the candles that were in the shape of 1 and 2 before carrying it into the living room for me.

They all sang happy birthday to me and then it was time for me to make a wish. I closed my eyes tightly and wished that everything would be okay between my friends and I. I blew out the candles and Remus pulled me into a hug as my mum cheered behind the camera she was holding.

She liked to take videos of all of my important moments along with a few pictures. In the basement of our home you could find boxes full of home videos throughout the years. The oldest one was my first time home followed by my first Halloween dressed in a lion onesie.

My dad began slicing the cake and putting it on small plates for everyone to eat. I sat on the floor and happily ate my cake with a small smile. It wasn’t the perfect birthday, but I still couldn’t help but feel happy.

As my dad began cleaning up so we could open my presents, there was a knock on the door. The only unusual thing was that we weren’t expecting anyone else.

I stood behind my dad as he opened the door and had to refrain from throwing myself at the person revealed. Draco Malfoy stood there along with his mum, they were both dressed in nice looking clothes.

Mrs. Malfoy was relatively tall for a woman, she had a slim frame, and she had long blonde hair that was tied into a bun on top of her head. She wore a casual looking green dress and a cloak despite the weather.

Draco’s hair was curly as ever, but it still managed to look neat. He was wearing a white button up, black dress pants, black boots, and a black cloak like his mother. They looked exactly like one another, the only difference being their eyes. Mrs. Malfoy had blue eyes whereas Draco had stormy grey ones.

“Harry,” Draco said, a smile lighting up on his face at the sight of me.

“I am sorry if we came at the wrong time, it’s just my son was worried. He’s been sending Harry letters all summer and hasn’t gotten a response,” Mrs. Malfoy told my father who turned to look at me.

“I haven’t been getting any letters. Not even from Blaise or Daphne,” I said with a frown on my face. If this was true, then what was happening to my mail? This had never happened before. “I tried floo calling you but no one answered,” I added on and Draco looked as confused as I was.

“Can they come in?” I asked me dad and he nodded, apologizing to the Malfoys for his manners.

Draco hugged me tightly as soon as he entered my home and I smiled into his shoulder. It was nice to know that he hadn’t been purposefully ignoring me. My smile was brighter than it had been all summer as I led Draco into my home.

It wasn’t nearly as big as Malfoy Manor was, but it was a decent size for a home right near London. Draco looked at the moving picture on the wall, it was of me when I was about seven years old flying on my toy broom.

“Cousin?” I heard Sirius say loudly with wide eyes when he saw Mrs. Malfoy. She looked just as surprised to see him.

“It’s nice to see you again, Sirius,” she said with a gentle smile on her face. Mrs. Malfoy was nothing like Mr. Malfoy from what I could tell when I saw them at the train station. Draco’s father appeared to be a bit mean and cold.

“I got this for you,” Draco told me and handed me a wrapped present. My smile managed to get even bigger and I hugged him once again.

“I though you hated me and that was why you weren’t talking to me,” I told him as my eyes began getting slightly teary.

“How could I hate our saviour?” Draco teased and I rolled my eyes as he bumped our shoulders together. “Why don’t you show me around?” He suggested as I placed his present with the pile of others.

I dragged him through the dining room and kitchen and towards the stairs that led upstairs. He was staring at everything in wonder and grinned when he saw the door with my name carved into it on a silver plate. 

“This is my room,” I told him and opened the door. My bed was pushed up against the left wall with my nightstand next to it. I also had a dresser and desk against the other wall. I had Quidditch posters everywhere, mainly of the Bulgarian Quidditch team.

“It’s awesome,” Draco said as he walked in and began looking around. Felix appeared from underneath my bed and Draco rushed to pick him up with a fond smile directed at the feline in his arms.

“I’m sorry you didn’t get my letters,” Draco said as he sat on my bed next to me.

“It’s fine, I’m just glad you came over. Last night the Weasley twins came over and picked me up in a flying car. A car is a form of muggle transportation,” I explained to Draco when he looked a bit confused. “We went to London and ate at a diner,” I continued the story and laid back.

“I’ve been to London before, but my parents didn’t let me look around too much. Are those moving box things cars?” He asked me and I nodded. “My father would throw a fit if he caught me in anything muggle,” Draco said with a shrug.

“My mum likes taking muggle transportation sometimes. I know she has a sister that’s a muggle,” I told him as Felix jumped out of his arms to go downstairs.

“I’ve never spoken to a muggle,” Draco whispered to me, almost afraid that someone would hear. “Until Hogwarts I’ve never even met a muggle born,” he went on to add.

“How? They have a way bigger population than us. There are barely 1 billion wizards and witches in the entire world, there’s about 7 billion muggles,” I said and stressed the numbers.

“My parents never let me associate with them. I’m not allowed to have muggle born friends either.” Draco told me and I couldn’t help but feel bad for him. Why did his parents, or at least his father, have to hate muggle borns and muggles so much?

“How does he feel about Half-bloods?” I asked him, suddenly feeling a bit self conscious about my blood status.

“He doesn’t care too much about them, but I’m pretty sure he thinks they’re even worse because that means a pureblood ended the purity of a bloodline to be with a muggle or muggle born,” he explained to me, a small frown on his face.

“You don’t agree with that, do you?” I asked him hesitantly. He shrugged, looking a bit uncomfortable.

“They don’t seem too bad,” he said and I took that as a win.

“Let’s go back downstairs so I can open my presents,” I said and stood up. He followed me back downstairs and all of the adults were seated on the couches with cups of tea in their hands while engaged in conversation.

“Come open your presents,” my mum waved me over and Draco stood behind his mum awkwardly.

I settled on the floor and grabbed a random present from the pile next to me. The first one was from Sirius and it contained a few vinyl records of an old English rock band called Queen. The next gift went along with the previous ones. It was a record player that would play the vinyls that he’d just bought me. I thanked him profusely before moving onto my next presents.

My parents had gotten me custom made robes with the Slytherin house crest on them. They weren’t school clothes, but instead they were clothes I could wear out in public that would show my house. My next gift was a sketchbook and a bunch of art materials. I was surprised at that one, because I had only mentioned wanting to draw once two months ago to my parents.

Remus had gotten his usual 46 pack of chocolate frogs for me. Along with that he bought me and invisible wand holster and a few horror books from the muggle writer Stephen King. The books were quite thick, but I didn’t say anything about that and put it with my pile of presents.

I was most excited for Draco’s present, even if it was small. I opened the small box to see a necklace. It was a silver snake curled up into a pile and the eyes were green gems. It also came with a matching ring. It would go perfect with my school robes and my new set of robes from my parents.

“Thank you,” I said and hugged everyone one by one. I even hugged Mrs. Malfoy, she had smelled of some kind of flowers with a hint of mint.

“Why don’t I give you my floo address so you can call me and we won’t have to worry about you not getting my letters or calls?” I suggested to Draco as he got on his cloak. The Malfoys were getting ready to leave again as Mrs. Malfoy said that Mr. Malfoy would be back home shortly.

“Please,” Draco said and waited eagerly as I grabbed a piece of parchment and quickly scribbled down the floo address with a pen.

“See you soon,” Draco said and gave me one last hug before leaving our home with his mum. I watched them apparate from the living room window.

I walked back into the living room and grabbed all of my gifts at once. I nearly dropped a few things as I walked up the stairs, but I managed to make it to my bedroom door. I kicked it open with my foot and nearly dropped all of it when I saw there was someone in my room.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Harry is still a bit angsty, but it won't be too bad the rest of the book

There was a house-elf sitting on my bed. It wore a tattered pillow case and the thing had been ripped on the sides for holes for its arms. I immediately noticed the enormous green eyes as the thing I’d been seeing watching me.

“Who are you?” I asked as I dumped all of my things on the bed near it.

“Dobby the house elf, sir Harry Potter,” he said and took a deep bow. “Dobby has been wanting to meet you for so long! Such an honour,” the elf blabbered as he looked at me with adoration and awe.

“P-Pleased to meet you,” I managed to stutter out. “May you tell me what you’re doing here?” I asked him and sat down on my desk chair in front of my bed.

“This is very hard for Dobby to say sir…very hard it is…Harry Potter may not like it…” Dobby paused often between his words and his legs appeared to shake a bit as he spoke.

“Take a seat,” I offered politely and pointed to my bed with a smile.

Dobby began sobbing hysterically and I attempted to shush him, as he was being very loud. Sirius, Remus, and my parents were out in the backyard having a drink. I still worried they may hear, especially with how loud the elf was.

“S-Sit down? No one has asked Dobby to sit down,” Dobby wailed and his lanky fingers went up to rub his eyes. “Sit down like an _equal!_ ” The elf shouted as he sobbed.

“I’m sorry! Please be quiet, no one can hear you,” I whisper shouted at the elf and it seemed to work slightly as he quieted, but he was still crying.

“Dobby has heard of Harry Potter’s kindness, but never of his kindness,” Dobby managed to choke out as he stared up at me. “No wizard has treated me as an equal,” Dobby continued and I was worried he was about to start wailing again. Thankfully he remained silent.

“Must’ve not met many good wizards then,” I said in an attempt to cheer up the teary-eyed elf.

He nodded in response, but seconds later a look of horror appeared on his face and he began banging his head on my dresser. Loudly. “Bad Dobby! Bad Dobby! How dare you speak badly of your master!” He shouted as he hit his head over and over again.

I cringed at the wails of pain he made and yanked him away from my now dented dresser. “Stop- what are you doing?” I whisper shouted at him again as I looked at him as if he were insane. I was fairly certain he was insane.

“Dobby had to punish himself, sir. He spoke ill of his family,” he told me as he hung his head down. My eyebrows furrowed as I began thinking of his family. His name sounded very familiar, which meant I most likely knew his owner.

Then realization dawned on me. He was the Malfoys house elf. I remained silent for nearly an entire minute before I decided to speak. “You shouldn’t have to punish yourself,” I told him.

“But Dobby does. I punish myself all the time for misbehaving. Sometimes my master makes me give myself extra punishments so I don’t misbehave. Dobby will have to punish himself after this,” he told me, his face twisting into worry.

“Why did you come here if you have to punish yourself? Surely this can’t be worth it if you have to punish yourself,” I asked Dobby as I wondered. Why would he disobey his master to come see me of all people?

“Dobby has always wanted to meet the great and powerful Harry Potter that triumphed the Dark Lord, but that is not why Dobby has come,” the elf whispered. “Dobby has come to tell Harry Potter that he must not go back to Hogwarts, as not even the great and powerful Harry Potter knows what awaits him.”

I looked at him as if he was the dumbest thing on earth. “I’m sorry, but I kind of have to go to Hogwarts,” I told him as I rolled my eyes. “This is not up for discussion, I am going to Hogwarts,” I hissed at the elf and he cowered a bit.

“Dobby cannot allow that!” The elf yelled at me and I raised an eyebrow.

“Yes, you will! Who are you to tell me what to do? Imagine what your masters would think if I told them,” I yelled back at him. It was an empty threat, but it still seemed to scare the house elf. “My friends are at Hogwarts and I have to learn-”

“Friends that don’t even write to Harry Potter?” Dobby asked me, staring back with defiance.

“That doesn’t mat- wait how do you know they haven’t been writing to me?” I asked him as I realized exactly what he said. “You’ve been stopping my mail, haven’t you?” I asked him, feeling my anger begin to rise.

“Dobby thought that if Harry Potter thought he didn’t have friends or they didn’t care about him then he wouldn’t go back to Hogwarts,” Dobby confessed and pulled out a large stack of envelopes and what appeared to be gifts for my birthday.

“I am going to kill you. Give me my letters!” I yelled and lunged at the elf. He apparated to my bedroom door and I began running after him again. He dropped the letters on the floor but I still continued to chase him.

I cursed as he began running down the stairs and into the dining room. “Tell Dobby that Harry Potter promises not to go back to Hogwarts,” Dobby demanded as he held up his hand.

“You’d be lucky if I promise not to kill you,” I snarled at the elf, feeling angrier than I ever had. I’d been miserable all summer, moping around and feeling as though no one loved me. The elf’s plan would’ve worked if it weren’t for Draco.

I realized my mistake as Dobby snapped his fingers and one of my mother’s potions began floating, it was one of the ones she was currently working on perfecting. It was designed to improve hearing for the elderly or anyone that had trouble hearing.

“Dobby, please don’t!” I begged the elf, but he was no longer listening. I pulled out my wand, but it was too late. The pink liquid fell to the ground with a loud shatter and Dobby apparated out of the kitchen instantly.

The adults rushed in and I realized just how incriminating this looked. I was holding out my wand and one of my mothers’ potions was on the floor. I had never seen my dad so upset with me. “What did you do?” Was the first question out of his mouth.

I stuttered, attempting to come up with an excuse or reason. I couldn’t rat out Draco’s house elf, because then there was the chance that he’d get in trouble as well. What if my parents didn’t let me see him anymore? Or what if they thought Draco sent the house elf on purpose?

“I-I was practicing and it f-fell,” I stuttered out and I was about to break down crying. I could hardly see because my eyes were so teary. I felt as though if I were to open my mouth again I’d just break down.

“It’s not even close to shelf! It looks as though you practiced a levitation charm with it and dropped it in the middle of the room!” My dad was yelling, which he rarely did. I understood why he was doing it. That was my mother’s work, her entire life. She dedicated everything to potion making.

I broke down crying and everyone fell silent in the kitchen and I sprinted out of the room. I slammed my door shut and said ‘ _colloportus_ ’ to lock my bedroom door. I pushed all of my new gifts onto the floor and they all fell off of my bed.

I turned off all the lights in my room and put the pillow over my head. I couldn’t handle it. Why did it have to be me? I didn’t want any of this, I didn’t want some house elf coming into my bedroom and talking about how great and powerful I am, and I didn’t want Voldemort to keep on making it his mission to kill me. Two times he’d tried to kill me and once was more than enough.

I screamed into my pillow as I thought of Dobby and what he’d done. This was his plan though, wasn’t it? Ruin my life so I don’t go back to Hogwarts.

About an hour later someone entered my room and sat on the edge of my bed. I recognized the warm cinnamon smell instantly as Remus. “You okay under there?” He asked me, although his question was a bit muffled because of the pillow over my head.

“I’m going to take your silence as a yes,” he said and I felt his hand gently pat my knee. “Why don’t you tell me what happened? I know for a fact you wouldn’t practice a bloody levitation charm on your mum’s work. That doesn’t sound like you,” he whispered the last word softly.

“You wouldn’t believe me if I told you. No one would,” I told him as I removed the pillow from my head and turned to face the wall away from him.

“Try me,” he said and leaned forward a bit in an attempt to see my face.

“I can’t! I can’t tell you! So just punish me and get over with it,” I yelled at him, feeling my anger surge up again. He knew the anger wasn’t directed at him and he continued to stare at me concerned. I hated how he looked at me.

“I’m going to assume that based off of your emotions right now you are beginning puberty, and perhaps had a bought of accidental magic that made your mum’s potion break and you pulled out your wand in an attempt to fix what you did,” Remus suggested. I knew he was covering for me and I didn’t know if I should be thankful or be upset with him for trying to fix my mess.

“I’ll go and tell your parents that as I don’t expect you’ll be saying another word. Try not to have a bout of accidental magic while you’re at it,” he said and got up off of my bed and left my room.

As soon as the door closed, I got up and grabbed a pair of pajamas from my drawer. I was beginning to feel a little embarrassed at my explosion and I just really wanted to go to sleep. I heard someone come in again during the night to check on me, but I pretended to be asleep and they left.

My parents decided to never mention the incident again, but I did notice how my parents converted half of the basement into a potion lab. It was smart, especially because she didn’t have to clean up every time someone came over.

About a week after my birthday my Hogwarts letter arrived while I was making toast in the kitchen by myself. My mum was down in the basement working on potions and my father was out working as an auror.

I grinned as soon as I saw the letter and gave a piece of my bread to the owl before it flew off. I opened it and my eyes scanned over the books I would need.

_The Standard Book of Spells, Grade 2 by Miranda Goshawk_

_Break with a Banshee by Gilderoy Lockhart_

_Gadding with Ghouls by Gilderoy Lockhart_

_Holidays with Hags by Gilderoy Lockhart_

_Travels with Trolls by Gilderoy Lockhart_

_Voyages with Vampires by Gilderoy Lockhart_

_Wanderings with Werewolves by Gilderoy Lockhart_

_Year with the Yeti by Gilderoy Lockhart_

My first thought after reading my book list was that my defense against the dark arts teacher must be a very gullible young witch. My second thought was that this was going to be very expensive. Lockhart’s books weren’t cheap at all, and having to buy an entire set of them was even more expensive.

I set the list on my table and headed over to the fireplace to floo call Draco. Apparently, Dobby had realized stopping my mail wouldn’t stop me from going to Hogwarts. I’d managed to reply to all of my friends and come up with an excuse for not getting my mail.

Draco answered my call after about a minute and his face appeared in the fire. “Did you get your letter too? Dad said we’re going on Wednesday,” Draco asked me as soon as he appeared.

“I’ll try and convince my mum and dad to take me then, but my dad has been pretty busy lately,” I told him, silently hoping I could go shopping even if someone else took me. “Maybe Sirius and Remus could take me,” I suggested.

“My mum can’t come, but I’m sure my father wouldn’t mind Sirius,” Draco said and it looked as though he was smiling, but it was difficult to tell due to the fire.

“I’ll call you back in a bit, I’m gonna floo call the Weasleys,” I said to Draco and ended the call. Draco still didn’t seem to like any of the Weasleys, but the same could be said for the Weasleys disliking the Malfoys. Their little feud wasn’t going to end overnight.

Mrs. Weasley answered the floo call and I quickly asked for the twins. My request was followed by her yelling for Fred and George. I could hear feet running down the stairs and seconds later both of their faces appeared in my fireplace.

‘Heya, Harry,” the one on the right said with an obvious grin.

“I was wondering if you guys could go to Diagon Alley on Wednesday for school shopping?” I asked them hopefully. They exchanged quick looks before turning around to speak to their mum. It was hard to make out, but after a minute they turned back to me.

“She said that’ll be fine. Ginny hasn’t shut up about you since the last time we were over and how you hugged her,” the one on the right said with a snicker.

“But I hugged you two as well,” I said, my words came out a bit harsher than intended. “Why is she so obsessed with me?” I asked, exasperated.

“I’m sure she’ll grow out of it soon. I can see why it’s getting a bit annoying; she just needs to see that you’re not some mythical God,” one of them said and noticeably shrugged.

“I literally fell off of my broom in front of her and broke my leg,” I drawled, but my words were cut off by my mum calling my name. “I gotta go, see you Wednesday!” I rushed out before ending the call and heading towards the kitchen.

“You didn’t tell me you got your letter,” mum said with a frown. I shrugged and picked it up off of the table and handed it to her. “Someone likes Gilderoy Lockhart,” she whispered under her breath.

“Can I go school shopping Wednesday? All of my friends are going then,” I pleaded, doing my best to look cute enough for her.

“Your dad and I have to work that day,” she said and sounded genuinely sorry.

“Can Sirius and Remus take me?” I begged her and she let out a sigh. She nodded reluctantly and wrote down a letter to the two of them. She handed it to Bami who flew over instantly and I quickly gave her a hug.

“Thanks,” I murmured into her shoulder and I could feel her smile.

We got our response from Sirius and Remus a few hours later and they both agreed to take me to Diagon Alley at noon. They arrived at my home on Wednesday at 11:30 am and I rushed to get dressed into the new clothes my parents had gotten me for my birthday.

I wore a white button up, black dress up pants, and a Slytherin tie before I put on my black Slytherin robes. They were clearly custom made and I proudly showed off my house symbol. I put on the ring and necklace Draco gave me and stared in the bathroom mirror. The colors of Slytherin really did bring out the color of my eyes and I looked like a real Slytherin.

I grinned at myself before running down the stairs. “You’re dressed up all nice,” Sirius said and went to ruffle my hair but I ducked. “Oh, you’ve done your hair? Trying to impress anyone?” he said with a wink and nudged me a bit.

I rolled my eyes and grabbed the satchel of money my mum left for me on the table and headed towards the fireplace. Remus went first and Sirius instructed me to go afterwards. I grabbed a handful of floo powder, but as I threw it down and went to speak, I coughed. “D-DiagOn Alley,” I coughed out and was sucked into the fireplace.

I flew out of a fireplace covered in soot and I hit my face on the floor. I coughed a bit as I stood up and pulled out my wand to cast scourgify on myself. All of the soot disappeared from my clothing and I deemed myself presentable.

I looked around the building I’d appeared in with wide eyes. To my left was a necklace in a glass case that said _‘Warning: Do Not Touch! Has claimed the lives of 15 muggles’_. I spotted a large cabinet that was big enough to fit a person inside and a human like hand that was snapped shut.

I began to realize the more I looked around the shop that I was most definitely not in Diagon Alley. Then the bell to the door rang.


	4. Harry Potter and the Visit to Knockturn Alley

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Slight warning for mention of a made up magical drug and some violence.
> 
> I'm so sorry I didn't upload yesterday, I got a bit busy with schoolwork.

I spotted Draco’s unmistakable platinum blond hair along with a man standing next to him that appeared to be his father.

His father had long greasy blond hair that matched his son’s, but it appeared to be slicked back unlike Draco’s who was now sporting his curly hair. They were both dressed in black and green robes and Lucius Malfoy held a walking stick that had a snake handle at the top.

“Harry? What are you doing here?” Draco asked as soon as he spotted me. He looked immensely confused and Lucius Malfoy was staring at me interestingly.

“I, uh, think I came out of the wrong fireplace,” I said and looked down as I attempted not to blush. “Where exactly am I?” I asked him quietly, but I fell silent when a stooping man with greasy black hair appeared.

“You’re in Knockturn Alley. Draco go and take Mister Potter outside with you and wait for me by the window. This place is dangerous for children,” Lucius Malfoy spoke smoothly and sternly while his cold and calculating eyes stared me down.

Draco grabbed my hand and dragged me out the door. “You didn’t touch anything in there, did you?” Was the first thing my friends asked me as he scanned me over with his eyes.

“There was a sign warning me not to touch anything, you think I’d be dumb enough too? There was something that said it killed 15 muggles,” I said and shivered a bit. “What are you doing down here?” I finally asked him, my curiosity was piqued.

“My father has some business down here,” was all he said before falling silent. We both watched Mr. Malfoy from the window and I watched him hand Borgin a few items in turn for a decent amount of galleons. The items all looked a bit dangerous and I had a feeling that they were most likely dark artifacts like everything else in that store.

Mr. Malfoy exited the building and turned to face both of us. “Follow me, boys,” he said and we both listened. The people seemed to recognize Lucius and they cowered in fear at the sight of him. I was surprisingly grateful for the older man, as the witches were looking at me as though I were fresh meat.

We walked through the dark and winding alley until suddenly we were enveloped in bright light and colors. A smile appeared on my face at the sight of Diagon Alley and I spotted Sirius and Remus instantly. They were both freaking out and clearly panicking.

“Sirius! Remus!” I yelled and ran over to them. I was enveloped into a hug and both of them visibly sighed in relief. “I ended up in Knockturn Alley,” I told them with a grin. They didn’t seem to like the idea as much as I did, but they were just glad I was alright.

I waved to Draco and he gave me a small smile before he was dragged off by his father. “Why don’t we get your robes first?” Remus suggested and we began heading towards Madam Malkin’s.

“Hogwarts, dear? Just step up on the stool,” she instructed me and I got up onto the wooden stool. One of the assistants got my measurements and I was done as quickly as I had gotten up there. “Slytherin?” She asked me and I nodded. “Be back in twenty minutes for your robes,” she told me and I nodded.

We headed to the apothecary next for my potion ingredients and a new cauldron. Remus made me get the freshest ingredients instead of the student kit and made me get double all of the ingredients, claiming that it would help my potion making next year.

“The fresher the ingredients are the better the quality of your potion will be. I’ll add a preservation charm as soon as we get back to your home,” Remus told me and tucked the box of ingredients into a satchel that was charmed to be bigger inside.

We were all done with my other things so we made our way to Flourish and Blotts. It was packed outside and I recognized why when I saw the sign out front.

_GILDEROY LOCKHART_

_Will be signing copies of his autobiography_

_MAGICAL ME_

_Today at 12:30 p.m to 4:30 p.m_

It was a quarter away from 2:00 p.m so the bookstore was utterly packed. As we squeezed into the building I couldn’t help but notice that most of the people here were female witches varying in ages.

“Please ladies, calm down. Your turn is soon,” a very distressed manager said as he attempted to calm the group of witches who were jumping and screaming.

I fought my way through the crowd with Sirius and Remus and I spotted the Weasley family in line. “Fred! George!” I called through the crowd and the twins turned to see me with goofy grins on their faces.

“You see this bloke? He’s got hundreds of women lining up for him,” Fred said with a hint of jealousy in his tone. I laughed a bit and followed where he was staring. A pretty witch with long blonde hair was standing there, but she appeared to be in her early twenties which was far too old for him.

“She’s pretty, but far too old,” I voiced my opinion to the boy, but he didn’t seem to care as he winked at her and she let out a pretty laugh. George was quiet and not too focused on the women like his twin. George was always a bit quieter out of the two, but he could be even louder than Fred if he needed to.

A cameraman for the Daily Prophet shoved George to the side with a snide remark. “It’s for the Prophet, far more important than you,” the sly looking man said and I stepped forward to have a serious talk with him.

Gilderoy Lockhart noticed the commotion and his eyes first landed on George before shifting to me. “It can’t be- Harry Potter?” Lockhart said and the shop broke out in whispers and turned to stare at me.

He lunged forward and grabbed me forcibly. He put his arm around my shoulder and smiled brightly as the cameraman took picture after picture. “Smile for the camera, Harry,” Lockhart said through his teeth and I scowled at him. I had never felt more uncomfortable.

“Little did young Harry know when he entered the store to meet me that I would be giving him a free set of all of my books for his Hogwarts supplies signed personally by me,” Lockhart said and put a large stack of books in my arms. “For free,” Lockhart added as he smiled charmingly. He looked so punchable in that moment.

“It think it would also be the perfect time I announced that I will be the Defense Against the Dark Arts Professor at Hogwarts,” Gilderoy announced and I took that as my moment to escape.

I rushed out of his group and to where Sirius and Remus were waiting for me along with the rest of the Weasley family. “Take them,” I said with a grunt and shoved them into Fred’s arms. He seemed a bit thankful and let that be known.

“Loved that didn’t you, Potter?” The familiar voice said and I turned to see Draco standing by the door with a smirk on his face.

Ron Weasley seemed to get the wrong impression, because he stepped forward menacingly. “No one asked you to speak, Malfoy,” Ron said and the playful expression fell from Draco’s face. I had a bad feeling about this as Draco walked towards Ron.

“And who was talking to you, Weasley?” He asked and he said the last name as if it disgusted him to even say it. “I believe I’m allowed to speak to my friend. I don’t know where you got the idea that you were involved in this conversation,” Draco was only a few inches from Ron’s face and they were both glaring at each other.

“And who invited you to come over and talk to us? Go and cry to your death eater father,” Ron spit out and something flashed in Draco’s eyes. He looked as though he were going to punch Ron in the face, but his father’s cane whacked him on the shoulder.

“What is going on here, Draco?” Mr. Malfoy’s voice came out as smooth as it did before, but this time there was a sense of distaste in his tone.

“Is there a problem?” Mr. Weasley said and paused when he saw Lucius Malfoy.

“Well, well, Arthur Weasley,” Lucius said as he stared at Mr. Weasley as if he were something nasty on the sole of his shoe. He replaced his cane with his hand on Draco’s shoulder and his son looked down at shoes.

“Lucius,” Mr. Weasley said and I’d never heard him speak so coldly.

“Busy time at the Ministry I hear,” Mr. Malfoy said with a sneer. “Are they paying you overtime for your work?” He asked as he reached to grab an old tattered book from Ginny’s cauldron.

“Obviously not,” he said with a look of distaste. “I don’t understand the point of being a disgrace to the wizard name if you don’t even get paid for it.”

“We have a very different idea of what makes a wizard a disgrace,” Mrs. Weasley said and it looked as though Malfoy senior and Mr. Weasley were about to go at it.

“Clearly,” Mr. Malfoy said and eyed who appeared to be Hermione Granger’s parents as they stood to the side. They were watching the ordeal anxiously and Ron was standing close to Granger. “The company you choose to keep…how could a pureblood wizard stoop as low to consort with the like of muggles-”

Ginny’s cauldron fell to the floor and Draco was pushed to the side as Mr. Malfoy and Mr. Weasley began fighting. I grabbed Draco just as a book case was about to fall on him and he held onto my arm tightly.

“Gentleman!” The manager was desperate, attempting to stop the books from falling as the two men brawled on the floor.

“What do ye think yer doing? Break it up,” Hagrid said as he waddled into the store. He grabbed both men with one hand each and they were both panting. Mr. Malfoy had been hit in the eye and it was red and Mr. Weasley had a split lip.

“Go on now! Go your ways!” Hagrid yelled at the two of them and Lucius grabbed Draco from me and paused briefly.

“Here’s your book girl, it’s all your father can give you-” Lucius Malfoy said and shoved two books into Ginny’s cauldron that fell onto the floor. Hagrid gave the man one last look before he left with Draco dragging behind him.

The manager looked as though he wanted to stop everyone from leaving, but at the sight of Hagrid he fell quiet.

As soon as we were out of the store I rounded on Ron. “Who do you think you are? You just had to start a fight with my friend for no reason!” I was yelling at him and I shook off Sirius’ hand as he attempted to calm me down. “That’s how Slytherins talk to each other. We like to tease each other and make jokes, but maybe that hasn’t crossed your head as you seem to think we’re all death eaters. Don’t talk to Draco again,” I snapped at him and turned around on my heel and began walking in the opposite direction.

“Bloody hell, kid,” Sirius said as he managed to catch up to me with Remus following close behind. “Why don’t we get some ice cream at Fortescue’s?” Sirius suggested and I nodded. We made our way to the ice cream shop and Sirius went up to order or us.

“You’ve had quite the temper lately,” Remus began saying as we took a seat in the corner. “You remind me of Lily, she doesn’t show it much but when she was your age she was always going off,” he continued on and I couldn’t help but smile a bit.

“People are going to assume things and say mean things about you and your friends because you’re in Slytherin. You can’t let it get to you, though,” Remus told me. His yellow eyes were boring into mine as he hunched forward a bit to be at my eye level. “Don’t let Slytherin completely change you either, your choices are what define you and those around you,” Remus finished and I nodded in understanding.

“Here’s your ice cream,” Sirius returned to the table and handed both of our cones of chocolate ice cream.

“Let’s go find the Weasleys to apologize,” Remus said and we all stood up again. We found them in the Leaky Cauldron as they got ready to leave. “Harry would like to say something,” he said and pushed me forward.

“I would like to apologize for yelling and being rude,” I said quietly, unable to meet their eyes.

“Oh, Harry. You had every right to be mad, Ron shouldn’t have started that fight with your friend like that when he tried to talk to you. Ron, come say you’re sorry,” Mrs. Weasley was pulling me into a hug and pointed at her son sternly to get him to apologize.

“Sorry, I won’t interrupt your conversations again,” the tall and lanky boy said as he turned as red as his hair.

“Can we hang out with Harry for a bit?” George asked, referring to himself and Fred. Mrs. Weasley exchanged a look between Sirius and Remus before nodding reluctantly.

“You two better behave! I don’t want to hear a thing about you two misbehaving,” Mrs. Weasley warned them and they quickly thanked her before joining Sirius, Remus, and I. The Weasley family used the floo first and this time I made sure to speak very clearly before I said ‘Potter House’.

Fred appeared first and then George came out nearly landing on top of his twin. Sirius and Remus missed landing on the twins by an inch. Remus cast scourgify on all of us despite knowing that we could’ve easily cast it ourselves.

Felix walked up to me and meowed loudly while rubbing the side of his face against my leg. George leaned down to pick him up and put his entire face into the kitten that was nearly at an adult size already.

My mum was still working in the basement so I wandered into the kitchen with the twins and got an idea. “Wanna bake brownies?” I turned and asked them. They seemed interested and nodded instantly. Felix jumped out of George’s arms as I began grabbing the recipe book from the cupboard.

Fred and George were taller than me so I had them grab all of the ingredients from the cupboards for me. I set the glass bowl on the counter and began measuring all of the dry ingredients and the twins watched me in wonder.

“Cocoa powder,” I asked George to hand me and he did straight away. I measured out the correct amount of tablespoons and put them into the bowl. I began the wet ingredients in a separate bowl and Fred seemed confused.

“You want to prepare them separately so you don’t have to do as much mixing and it comes together better,” I told him and allowed him to crack one of the eggs open. He managed to get a small piece of a shell in there but I managed to fish it out of there before whipping the eggs.

I combined both of them together and allowed George to mix it. “Stop,” I told him when it was ready and giggled a bit when Fred dipped his finger in it and smeared it on George’s face. “Hey we need the batter to get into the pan!” I said when Fred reached for more.

I held the bowl as Fred scooped out all of the batter into the pan. I set the oven to 176 degrees before leaving it to bake in the oven. Wizards didn’t use ovens that often either, but they still understood the basics of the object.

“What’s Dirty Dancing?” George asked as we looked for movies to watch. I let out a laugh and put it into the VHS on top of the telly. I couldn’t stop giggling as we began watching it and we had to pause about 30 minutes into the movie so I could take out the brownies and let them cool.

George seemed a bit disturbed by the movie as Johnny and Baby laid in bed and Fred seemed very interested for all of the wrong reasons and I turned it off to save both of them.

“Can I have one?” Fred asked as he stared at the pan of brownies. I cut all of us a piece and wrapped up the rest of them and left them on the counter for later and my parents.

“You think we can put something in one of these?” Fred asked as he turned to George.

“What about Somnium?” George suggested and I nearly choked on my brownie as I was in the process of swallowing when he suggested it. “Has anyone done that?” George turned to ask me.

“Isn’t that a magical drug? Muggles have their own version, but I’ve never heard of wizards doing that,” I told them and they seem interested in it. “Wizard teens might like it, but I’m not saying drugs are a good thing,” I said with a shrug. I didn’t realize how much of an impact my words would have, because the twins shared a grin at the idea.

“Don’t tell me you two are actually going to begin giving the upper years somnium brownies?” I hissed at them and they faked innocence.

“Us? That’s childish,” Fred said and rolled his eyes. “It isn’t illegal in the Wizarding world though,” Fred continued on as a mischievous grin on his face.

“They’ll be a good seller,” George added on, not even faking his innocence as they began planning. “You’ll need to be the baker though, Harry. We’ll add the special stuff though. You’ll get 20% percent of all money made and we’ll sell it,” George said and after talking for twenty minutes they managed to convince me to agree.

I couldn’t help but think with a smile, that they were a bad influence, but then again they were known for pulling things like this.


	5. Harry Potter and the Closed Barrier

The morning of September 1st was chaotic as usual, but this year it seemed to be even more hectic than usual. Felix was running around the house and I nearly tripped over him as I walked out into the hallway to get to the bathroom.

“Bugger off,” I grumbled at the kitten as he sprinted down the hallway, his claws making scratching sounds on the wooden floor.

My dad managed to sleep in a bit too late and was rushing to make me breakfast, even though I insisted I could just make some toast myself and call it a day. He insisted on making me eggs, bacon, and hash browns.

I managed to finish my breakfast in record time before rushing up the stairs to finish packing my trunk. “You haven’t finished yet?” I heard my mum yell after me. I didn’t answer her as I was too busy focusing on getting all of Felix’s things inside one of my compartments.

I slammed my trunk shut and locked it with a flick of my wand. I wore a casual set of black robes this time with a black tie after debating between my robes or simply wearing a cloak over formal muggle attire.

“Hurry up!” My dad called from downstairs and I let Hedwig out of her cage so she could fly to Hogwarts by herself. I managed to catch Felix and put him into his carrier and I began dragging my trunk down the stairs with one hand and holding Felix’s carrier with the other one.

“You’re wearing wizard clothes a lot more often,” my father commented as he took my trunk from me. I didn’t respond as I was too focused on the taxi in front of our house.

“Why are we driving to the train station?” I asked with a slight frown on my face.

“We’re meeting the Weasleys there,” my mum said as she got into the backseat of the car. I felt like I should’ve known as I was squeezed between my parents in the backseat of the small car.

“Where to?” The driver asked and my mum quickly told him the address. Halfway before we were even at Kings Cross station I had already decided I hated taxis. They were too cramped and you could easily apparate or use a portkey to get to places if you didn’t have a fireplace to floo.

My dad grabbed a trolley when we arrived at the station and put my trunk on it. I placed Felix on top of my trunk and with a smile I realized he was sleeping inside his green carrier. I had put his favorite bed inside of it for that exact reason.

We found the Weasleys easily due to their vibrant red hair and the sheer amount of them. We made it to the platform 9 ¾ with five minutes to spare before the train left. We had to be careful as to not be noticed by muggles.

Mrs. Weasley went first with Ginny, followed by my parents, then Ron and Percy. Arthur and Fred then went, leaving George and I as the only ones left.

George and I both began walking fastly towards the brick wall and I felt no anxiety whatsoever, but then our trolleys collided with the wall and made a crashing sound. We weren’t going fast enough for our trunks to fall off, but people were staring.

We still had two minutes left, I noticed with a frown. Why couldn’t we get through? “We’re going to miss the train,” George said with wide eyes and I looked up at the clock as it slowly began counting down. _10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, and 1._

A lump appeared in my throat as realization set in. We’d just missed the train ride to Hogwarts and the barrier was still closed. Did my parents realize I never got on? Could they get out through the barrier?

“What do we do now?” I asked George as my voice began to shake. We were both underaged and stranded in a muggle train station with only wizard money on us.

“We could fly my dad’s car,” George suggested after a few moments of silence. “If we go now we can follow the Hogwarts express.”

“What about your parents? How will they get home?” I asked him as I looked for an excuse not to do this. My worries had already been replaced with a feeling of excitement as I looked at the older boy.

“They’re wizards, aren’t they? They can apparate. We won’t be seen by muggles either, my dad installed that button that makes us invisible until we get over the clouds,” George explained and he made a pretty good argument. I agreed and we both set off with our trolleys towards the exit.

I found the light blue Ford Angila parked by the front of the train station. George was much stronger than me so he picked up both of our trunks and placed them into the trunk for me. I placed Felix’s carrier on my lap and decided to let him keep on sleeping in it.

“Check to make sure no one is looking,” George asked me and I nodded and looked around. I gave him the thumbs up and he activated the invisibility switch. With a tap of his wand the car revved to life and he instantly aimed upwards so we could quickly get above the clouds and out of sight of muggles.

We were above the clouds, but he kept the invisibility button on until we managed to find the train. “We’re heading north it seems, we’ll have to check on it every thirty minutes,” he told me as he switched the button off.

We were flying above the white fluffy clouds and I couldn’t shake off the excitement that had settled in me. “Now the only thing we should worry about is an airplane,” I said and George and I both made eye contact.

We bursted out in laughter and we laughed for a good few minutes before we settled down. I grabbed my Walkman from my pocket and put in the album Nevermind by the muggle band Nirvana. I handed one of the earbuds to George and he looked at it confused.

“It plays music, you have to put it in your ear,” I told him and he listened to my instructions. We sang together, occasionally dipping back down underneath the clouds to check on the train. Each time he turned on the invisibility button, most likely paranoid about the muggles seeing us.

Halfway through the trip I broke into my box of chocolate frogs and we shared them together, but we made sure to hold off on drinking too much of our water as we only had one bottle.

About 30 minutes before we were going to arrive at Hogwarts the car’s engine began making funny noises. “Don’t worry, it’ll make it. She’s just never been this far,” George assured me but I didn’t feel any less confident.

It had grown dark outside and the car still managed to keep on driving. Hogwarts came into view and we began driving over the Great Lake. My knuckles turned white as I grabbed the seat the entire time we were flying over the lake.

“Keep on going,” George said as he stepped on the gas to keep going. The engine gave out and we went flying. He pulled the wheel just before it hit the wall of the castle and we went flying in the opposite direction. We landed in a tree with a crash and I groaned as my head hit the dashboard.

“Are you okay?” George asked me instantly, but he himself had a cut on his forehead. I was about to nod, but then there was a loud bang on the car. It felt as though a rhino had just charged into the side of the car. There was another thud, this time it was on the roof.

Suddenly the car came to life again and we fell from the tree and it drove towards the castle without us touching it at all. We came to a halt and I struggled to catch my breath. I didn’t get much time to myself as the doors flung open and I was thrown out of the car.

I caught Felix’s carrier, but he’d woken up and looked rightfully pissed off with a good reason. The car threw our trunks out of the car and sped off towards the Forbidden Forest. I fell back onto the grass and laid there for a few minutes.

“Let’s go,” George said and helped me up off of the ground. I let Felix out of his carrier and he followed us as we dragged our trunks towards the entrance of the castle. There was no one there when we entered. Not even Peeves the poltergeist appeared to give us some trouble.

We crept towards the Great Hall and stuck our head in the room. Ginny was standing with the crowd of students and there was a mousey looking first year being sorted currently. I looked at the Slytherin table and smiled, Draco seemed to be worrying and was scanning the entire table looking for me.

I looked at the staff table and frowned, Snape wasn’t there. “I hope they didn’t fire Snape,” I whispered to George quietly.

“Maybe one of his potions blew up on him and killed him,” George said and we both began to snicker, but I wasn’t too fond of the idea.

“Or maybe he’s been looking for you two,” a familiar drawl said from behind us. We both turned around and gulped at the sight of my Head of house. He grabbed us by the back of our robes and began dragging us to the dungeons.

We were in deep trouble, but I didn’t know if he knew how we got here. George made sure we weren’t seen by muggles, but a teacher could’ve seen us crash into the tree that could fight back.

Snape’s office was cold and his fireplace had no fire in it at all. There were shelves lining the walls with jars on them that were full of putrid looking substances that I was sure I didn’t want to know what they were.

We sat in front of his desk and he stared at us with his cold calculating eyes. “Is the train not good enough for you two?” Snape asked us and I bowed my head. “Wanted to impress all of your friends then?”

We both remained silent and I was feeling more guilty with each passing second. Would I be expelled? The thought had me petrified in my seat.

“You two could have been seen! Imagine what would’ve happened to your father, Mr. Weasley if it was known that he had enchanted a muggle car,” Snape yelled at George and he had the conscience to look embarrassed.

“You, Mister Potter! As a member of my house I expected better of you. Your parents are currently in Dumbledore’s office worrying their heads off because they had no idea what happened to you two,” Snape continued on. “You’re lucky if you aren’t expelled!”

At the word ‘expelled’ my blood turned cold and I suddenly couldn’t think anymore. “Sir, the barrier at King’s Cross wouldn’t let us through-” George attempted to defend us, but Snape silenced him.

“You could’ve easily waited for your parents or sent an owl to Hogwarts and someone would’ve come to collect both of you,” Snape said and I realized that I should’ve done that. My parents would’ve come back and the Weasleys would’ve come back for us too.

“It’s my fault, Professor. I convinced Harry to come with me-” George attempted to speak but this time I cut him off.

“He’s lying, I agreed to go with him all on my own. I’m very sorry, sir. I’m an idiot and I didn’t bother to think before acting. I thought it would be cool to fly to Hogwarts, I admit that. I never meant to disgrace our house like this,” I apologized and bowed my head. I could no longer look him in the eyes, especially because he’d been so lenient last time when I’d been caught out after curfew with my friends last school year.

“Do not call yourself an idiot, Mister Potter. You may have acted like an idiot, but your grades show that you are quite capable of using your head. I suggest you use it next time. I will not be expelling you, but I expect you to serve detention with me for the first month of the school year,” Snape told me and I felt my body relax when he told me I wouldn’t be expelled.

“Your punishment will be up to Professor McGonagall. Go to her office right now unless you really want to get expelled,” Professor Snape shooed George out of his office. George gave me one more sad look before leaving the office.

“It’s always you breaking the rules, Mister Potter,” Snape paused for a moment. “Your parents will be in my office in a few moments. Eat some food before they get here. Once they are done speaking to you and you’ve finished your food, I will take you to the common room. You’re lucky you weren’t seen by muggles.”

With a flick of his wand a plate of food with chicken, roasted potatoes, green beans, and a roll of bread appeared on the table along with a goblet of what I recognized to be pumpkin juice. I ate as quickly as I could and I was just finishing up my food when my parents entered his office.

Snape and my father exchanged a look before Snape left the room to stand out in the hallway. “What were you thinking! You could’ve been seen by muggles,” my mum was clearly angry with me, but despite that she’d pulled me into a hug. “I was so worried about you- I thought someone took you from me or you were hurt! You could’ve been hurt, George isn’t nearly old enough to drive,” she told me with a frown.

“I won’t do it again. Snape already gave me a lecture on how dumb of a decision that was and gave a month of detention,” I murmured as I trained my eyes on my shoes.

My mum whipped out her wand and healed the small cut on the side of my head and I looked at her thankfully. “If I hear you do one bad thing again I’ll make sure to send the most embarrassing Howler possible,” my mother warned me and I cringed.

A howler was one of the worst things a Hogwarts student could get. The thought of that arriving in Bami’s claws was more than enough to terrify me into good behavior until Halloween at least.

“I’m sure your friends are worried about you,” my dad said after a moment of silence. I nodded and picked Felix up off of the floor as he’d followed me there. I exited the office and waved goodbye to my parents before following Professor Snape down the halls.

“I expect you to be on top of your classwork and Quidditch this year. Don’t make me regret not giving you a worse punishment,” Snape warned me before saying the password. The Slytherins began to cheer at the sight of me, but fell silent when they spotted Snape.

I darted to my dormitory as Snape began giving his usual speech to the first years and the second I entered the dorm I was being hit with a book by Draco. “Where the hell were you?” He asked me, looking slightly angry.

“I flew to school in a car-” I began, but stopped when my roommates burst into a fit of laughter.

“I didn’t think they were being serious!” Blaise said as he was hunched over, clutching his stomach as he couldn’t seem to stop laughing. Once everyone was settled down and Felix was nestled in Draco’s lap, we were all seated on our beds.

I told them the story and how the barrier wouldn’t let us in and how George flew the car. I told them about the tree we flew into and how the car literally kicked us out of it.

“That has to go down in the next edition of _Hogwarts: A History_ ,” Theodore said and we all erupted into a fit of giggles again. I couldn’t help but agree, I had a feeling that this would be something students would talk about for years to come.

**Author's Note:**

> Some extra notes for clarification:
> 
> \- The drarry is a very slow burn and it it'll take a few books for it to become serious The boys will date people before each other, so there's a heads up.
> 
> \- This book follows canon a bit closer, but major parts have obviously changed due to Harry's house.
> 
> \- The Potter family is Indian, which means Harry is desi. I think that makes his green eyes stand out more as he has more of his father's other features. This is how I imagined him and I'm sure you saw him differently.
> 
> \- There is some light cursing in this, but it is not bad enough to warrant the rating going up.
> 
> \- I love it when you guys talk to me and comment, so feel free to do so whenever. I always reply.


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